Being a new mum can oftentimes come with the added challenge of relearning how to make time for yourself, including incorporating daily physical activity back into your schedule. Here are five of the best ways you can stay active with a new baby.
Strolling
We recommend starting with daily walks with a durable, jogging pram, to ensure maximum comfort and security for your baby. Finding these specialty prams in Melbourne and other major cities is now becoming an easier feat, primarily due to the growing understanding of the benefits of walking for new mums. It turns out that going out for a stroll doesn’t just give you an excuse to leave the house and replenish your vitamin D supply. You’ll be happy to hear that it’s also a perfect postpartum workout! It can be tricky for new mums in particular to pick up where they left off in regards to their fitness regime. Postpartum recovery can take anywhere between six to eight weeks, and even after this, strenuous physical activity is not recommended.
Jogging
I mean it only makes sense once you have a jogging pram to use it for jogging! But, like all postpartum activity, you’ll need to work your way up to it after a few weeks of generous strolling. When you head out on your first run, it’s recommended that you stick to your footpaths and other relatively flat surfaces. Stick to a regular route for your first few stints, just to allow your new baby to feel comfortable with the activity as well as to get them feeling accustomed to being in their stroller for specific periods of time. You want to keep their experiences as positive as possible, so it’s also recommended that you invest in some good sun protection, like canopies, and be generous with your supplies. Pack plenty of food, water, and comfort items.
Lounge room workouts
Regularly practising simple exercises like bicep curls and squats can make a world of difference when it comes to your health and wellbeing, and this extends to postpartum activity too. For your basic lounge room workouts all you’ll really need are some simple weights, and maybe even a stool or a couch for some stepping work. Use a combination of short and simple movements to put together an easy routine that you can practice at your leisure.
Yoga
When it comes to rebuilding your abdominal muscles, there are some really gentle yoga poses that can work wonders without placing any unwanted strain on your healing body. Amongst these are some warrior poses and other standing poses. Practising these simple stretches for as little as twenty minutes a day and ending with a blissful savasana will allow you to gently build up some muscle in time for you to move onto more difficult positions, and jumping back into some vinyasa flow!
Cycling
Whether your envisage yourself being a cycling mum or simply just using this low-impact cardio as a form of ‘me time’, getting back on your bike can be one of the most liberating activities for new mums, and will be sure to provide you with a variety of opportunities to embark on some decent adventures. But cycling with your family won’t just allow you to bond with your kids in the great outdoors. Nor do the benefits stop at improving yourheart health, as well as building up your lower body and core muscles. Learning this integral life cycle with you as their teacher will also ensure that your kids become roadsmart much younger than most. It’s a definite win-win.
Starting from the top of this list and working your way down can take a couple of months, but this slow and steady growth is certainly a nice method of balancing out the craziness that is parenthood, as well as an elegant way of reminding you that there will always be time that you can have for yourself. Even when that time is still spent in the company of little monsters!
